According to Mountfort (2006), what role does the I Ching have as an organisational device in the structure of High Castle? How does the use of this device illuminate the character of the novel’s protagonists?
The I Ching plays an integral part in organising the structure of this novel as Dick consults in the oracle to tell him which path to take and Dick encompasses this also in the novel with the protagonists themselves. Mountfort (2006) quotes Dick regarding the I Ching “I've used it to develop the direction of a novel” (p.3). It is no mystery to Dick himself that the I Ching was the deciding factor for this novel. Mountfort (2006) also refers to Aarseth (1999) idea's that the I Ching is a “part of a larger domain of so-called cybertexts which focuses on the mechanical organisation of the text, by positioning the intricacies of the medium as an integral part of the literary exchange” (p.4)
Mountfort (2006) also says that Dick used the ancient Chinese oracle-text I Ching to plot the development of his novel The Man in the High Castle and calls this a “ground-breaking narrative experiment that has distinct cybertexual, as well as oracular, resonances” (p.4). I can see it almost coming across as a religious text as the characters believe totally in this higher being. Mountfort (2006) senses that Dick believed and regarded that the I Ching itself had written The Man in the High Castle as Dick had used the oracle I Ching to advise him on which path he should construct this novel. Mountfort (2006) said that Dick posed the questions to the I Ching “regarding the situations that the characters faced and how they should interpret events, what they should do next, and what the end result will be” (p.5).
Mountfort (2006) quotes Dick “Well the I Ching gives advice beyond the particular, advice that transcends the immediate situation. The answers have a universal quality. For instance: 'The mighty are humbled and the humbled are raised'. If you use the I Ching long enough and continually enough, it will begin to change and shape you as a person” (p.4). This tells something of Dick's mental state in which the I Ching has controlled. There comes to be this sense of paranoia between the characters in the Man in the High Castle and also from Dick himself that all the advise given and taken from the I Ching is all sinister. Dick was as he said himself 'hooked' into the I Ching and so were the characters.
What I gather from Mountfort's reading is that the I Ching has given the protagonists character's an addiction, a spirituality belief, and vulnerability as they are indicisive and take the I Ching's readings as a higher prophecy. And not only is this affecting the protagonist's, it is how Dick would feel himself. But much like reading your horoscope the I Ching needs to be interpreted to the individual. Therefore Dick interpreted The Man in the High Castle himself therefore he wrote it himself and was only influenced by the I Ching's fortune telling.
References:
Mountfort, P. (2006). Oracle-text/Cybertext in Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. Conference paper, Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association annual joint conference, Atlanta, 2006.
Interesting comments and good you have engaged with Paul's text - I think it's also important that you make explicit reference to the primary text as well - including description of parts of its narrative and even extracts from it. This way it's easier to develop your own critical opinion of the text. For example check out the last part of MiTHC where it is revealed that Abendsen, the author of the Where the Grasshopper Lies actually used the i-ching to write the entire novel. It's great!
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